"It's a String Thing" #24 Tiles

It is absolutely fascinating to see how a creative group of tanglers - using the same patterns and string line -produced such fabulously varied tiles...

Cheryl Rotnem said that Y-Ful Power took all of her power to do.  It required much practice on her part and in the end, she "got it!"  

It is a credit to her as her persistence paid off.

Anna Houston said that all of the tangles were new to her this week.  She's added some lovely detail to them - especially Yang and Yew-Dee.

Anna writes that "tangling...is such a wonderful diversion when one doesn't feel well."  Yes, it is - especially with so many people battling colds in this wintry weather.  Get well soon!

Joan Delony said that she couldn't wait to see how others conquered this challenge.  That is a wonderful way to put it - and it is a treat to see how she did it.  

Joan said that she used a "disoriented Yang" as she dubbed it - in between Yincut and Yabbut.  Joan has a wonderful way with words - and tangles.

Sue Green said that she enjoys the challenges as they push her to "try some new patterns" that she "tends to avoid."  That is an echoed sentiment this week, especially for Y-Ful Power.

And like many others, Sue rose to the challenge and her tile is very pretty.  She said she added some color to as a way to add some "strength" to her piece.  It also changes the look of Yincut, doesn't it?

Charlotte Carpentier said that she "finally finished one in time to send it in!".  She is a relatively new tangler, currently taking classes with CZT Sharla Hicks.

This is a really lovely concentration of patterns.  She managed to keep her pattern grids on the same angled lines and one flows into another at the string lines.  That is fabulous!

Charlotte tile is also posted here on her blog.

Jenna Wheatman said this challenge was "tough", but she again found her style managing to make these tangles "flow into one another and combing them to make their own variations."

Jenna's large swirls are extensions of Yew-Dee.  And how she ever managed to have them flow into Y-Ful Power is just mind boggling.  

Her enhancements of sparkle, lines, dots, and shading make this a masterful piece.

Lonett sends kind regards from Germany along with her tile - 

Unlike most artist this week, she said that Y-Ful Power is one of her favorite tangles.  Her challenge came with using so many grid based patterns on one tile.  

Her fondness for Y-Ful shows.  It seems to flow from the white space in her arch and then anchor itself in holes along the base of her tile.  The white space is a very clever touch as is the depth created by using Yang between the curved string lines. 

Lonett has also posted her tile here on her blog.

Jackie Becker said that this was "BIG FUN".

It looks like fun!  Her shading adds wonderful dimension to her tangles, too - especially Y-Ful Power.

Amy Curtis said that when she decided to use Yincut as a background, the "rest sort of fell into place."

She also said that she "really enjoyed going in a playful direction with this one."  It is such a happy tile - has a storybook feel to it, doesn't it?

Amy also posted her lovely tile here on her blog. 

Annemarie tangled this tile:

She created large beautitul swirls of Yew-Dee. Shading them in the middle was a wonderful idea.  She adds a nice touch with sparkle on Yincut too.

Annemarie posted her pretty tile here on her blog.

Ingrid said that while Y-Ful Power seemed a "bit complicated" at first, she did have a lot of fun drawing it.

She now likes it very much.  Ingrid's line work on Yew-Dee is really very pretty and she created a nice effect by alternating the use of Yang and Yabbut.

Brenda Urbanik sent in this beautiful tile - 

She has created a unique look to Yang the way she stacked and darkened it - its wonderful!  Her curved grid lines and shading of Yincut make it appear raised from the tile.

Brenda also posted this picture here on her blog.

Sue Jacobs sent along this pretty purple piece -

She said she enjoyed revisiting some tangles that she had forgotten about.  They are all just splendid in their purple majesty...sparkle, stipple, shading...so pretty!

Sue also posted her tile here on her blog.  

A warm welcome to Jafael.  This is her first challenge submission - 

She said that she loves the challenges because they give her a "reason to learn tangles" and "how to do this!"

This is such a wonderful blend of the tangles.

This tile is also posted here on Jafael's blog.

Sue Agnew adds some wonderful touches to her tile - 

She chose to leave the 'arched' space blank, added some 'Cruffle-ing' to Yang and against her usual need to finish every edge, she left the edges of Y-Ful Power unfinished.  

Sue also said her 'creative opportunity' came when she omitted the first step of Yew-Dee and so created a different version of the tangle.

All of these elements add up to one sensational tile.

Vicky Brison said that it was "really nice getting reacquainted with Y-Ful Power."

She also said that when she looks at this tile for a while, she sees a roller coaster!  That is a tribute to her ability to use shading to create depth and the way she uses curved grid lines to give the illusion of distance.

How she blended Yabbut and Yang is especially clever.

A N D  now....the tile of honor for this week was submitted from the south of Spain by....

Annie Taylor!  

Annie actually sent in two tiles.  She, like most others this week, said that she struggled with Y-Ful Power. She decided to use even more of it as a result - now that's a great way to master a tangle!

She said that she could "only see a tunnel" when she first looked at the string...and so she tangled it like so:

Annie followed the curve of the string line and added that darkened space just beyond her Yabbut 'path' to give her tile the feeling of the tunnel she envisioned.

She decided to "go with the flow" on a second tile and used a blue card.  She described her use of Y-Ful Power as a "great learning curve".  

Thank you Annie, for your beautiful work.  I have a little something coming in the mail for you to commemorate the day.

Many thanks to all of the talented tanglers who submitted tiles this week.

Special thanks to the creative minds behind the string and tangles used in "It's a String Thing" #24 - 

String #015 by Courtney Franz, CZT used with permission from Linda Farmer at TanglePatterns

Yabbit by Margaret Bremner, CZT
Yang by Genevieve Crabe, CZT
Yew-dee by Peg Farmer, CZT
Y-ful Power by Shoshi
Yincut and official Zentangle® pattern

Check back tomorrow for "It's a String Thing" #25!